


Blessings

by Kaede Marie (JadedSuperGirl)



Series: Poseidon Legacies Snapshots [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26606590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadedSuperGirl/pseuds/Kaede%20Marie
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are celebrating their daughters first birthday!
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso & Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace
Series: Poseidon Legacies Snapshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935562
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	Blessings

**Author's Note:**

> Special Thanks to my amazing friend Sowen who has edited this short for me.

BLESSINGS  
POSEIDON’S LEGACY

A year. It had been a year since the birth of their daughter, the greatest joy for Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. As Annabeth sat watching Percy and their daughter play by the waters of the Long Island Sound, she couldn’t help but be a little apprehensive. It was Charlotte’s first birthday, a cause for celebration, and a busy day lay ahead of them.

The morning had been spent with Percy’s parents and younger sister Estelle. Sally Blowfis had greeted them with a large breakfast that included Percy’s favorite, blue pancakes and blue just about everything else. Charlotte had her first taste of blue food and, suffice to say, she was definitely her father’s daughter judging by the slight tint of blue on the little one’s lips. Annabeth left the Blowfis home with a few recipes from her mother-in-law and several promises to babysit from Estelle.

Their second stop for the day was Camp Half-Blood, which gave them some time to enjoy the beach. Percy had maintained a good relationship with the camp, taking his free summers to come and train new campers. He also kept an eye out for potential demigods to send their way. It helped that Percy was a middle school marine biology teacher and the coach for the swim team. The campers, with a full blessing from Chiron, had insisted on throwing a big birthday bash for their favorite instructor’s daughter. 

That was all well and good. A few weeks prior, Annabeth had discussed potential birthday ideas and venues with Percy, so a party was always in the plans. With Chiron overseeing the campers’ preparations, she wasn’t concerned about the party. It was the after party that made her anxious.

Poseidon and Athena wanted to meet their new granddaughter, each making a request to formally meet Charlotte. This was something uncommon for the Olympians to do. They rarely, if ever, got involved with their mortal children and their families. It was hard enough to get them to acknowledge the demigods at camp and claim them. 

Percy hadn’t been too troubled when his father had asked. In fact, it made him happy that Poseidon wanted to be more involved. Annabeth, however, was a different story. The sudden attention of the Gods made her wary. Was it wise to have not just one, but two Olympians showing interest in a single mortal? Living the life of a demigod was already hard enough, and drawing attention to Charlotte could bring trouble. 

In recent years, life had become relatively peaceful for their little family. No scary prophecies loomed over their future and she hoped it would stay that way. Gods, however, were fickle. Monsters would always exist. Tartarus was full of an alarming amount of enemies that she and Percy had personally sent there. Anything could happen. Annabeth could only hope to keep her daughter away from danger for as long as they could. Perhaps create some sort of safety bubble? Surely she had seen something of that nature in Daedalus’ laptop - which unfortunately was lost somewhere in Tartarus.

“Mommy!” Charlotte giggled, toddling back to her mother with Percy trailing close behind. 

Annabeth abandoned her musings at the sound of her daughter’s laughter. The little one had just begun walking in the recent weeks and she was an unstoppable force of energy. Annabeth smiled and opened her arms to catch her. Charlotte fell into her mother's arms in a fit of giggles and bubbles. Apparently, Percy had taught her a new trick. She loved blowing bubbles now. 

“Pop!” she said as she touched one, popping the bubble with her tiny fingers as Annabeth brushed some of the sand off of her little blue birthday dress.

Percy laughed as he watched his wife and daughter with the same sappy look in his eyes he always had whenever they had moments like today.

“Ready for your birthday party and maybe meeting your grandparents later, Princess Mermaid?” Percy asked, holding a hand out to Annabeth to help her up.

“Pop Pop.” Charlotte clapped.

“Oh, he’s gonna love that.” Percy grinned. “Poseidon is gonna be a great Poppop.”

Bemused, Annabeth shook her head though she accepted the help. “Careful he doesn’t curse you for that, Seaweed brain”

“You gotta admit it’s funny.”

“Poppop.” Charlie agreed, still giggling at the bubbles.

They made the trek back to the big house where Chiron was talking to a few campers holding several bunches of balloons in different shades of blue. As soon as the kids caught sight of the family coming up the hill, they dashed off to the dining pavilion where the festivities were being prepared.

“Ah, Annabeth, Percy! Good timing. The campers are just about finished decorating down at the pavilion.”

“Pony!” Charlotte squealed, reaching for Chiron.

Charlotte had only seen the camp’s activity director a handful of times while in his wheelchair disguise. It was the first time she’d ever caught a glimpse of Chiron as a centaur. She seemed absolutely mesmerized.

Chiron chuckled good-naturedly, “well hello to you too, little one.” 

“Hello,” Charlotte said blinking at the centaur’s greeting, but never to be deterred she continued to reach for him, “Mommy, pwetty pony! Pwetty!’

“Charlie, can you say KYE-ron?” Annabeth asked, enunciating the name for Charlotte to repeat. She ruffled her daughter's dark hair and waited while Charlotte made a face of intense concentration.

“KYE-on. KYE-on pwetty.” she said not quite getting to roll the R properly.

Percy grinned. “I think she likes you better as a pony, Chiron.”

“Indeed. She is very astute for such a young child. As for the ponies, I think she’ll like the pegasi much better. By the way, Percy, you might want to visit the stables. Blackjack’s mare recently gave birth to a little foal.”

“I had no idea they were expecting. Guess things have been pretty busy with Charlie lately. I’ll have to pay them a visit before we leave tonight,” Percy replied. 

“The kids are excited about your return to camp. We don’t have a swordsman nearly as skilled as you,” Chiron commented as they made their way to the pavilion.

“Oh don’t flatter him, Chiron. Our resident Seaweed Brain already has enough of a big head as it is.” Annabeth teased. 

They arrived at the pavilion and loud cheers erupted from the assembly. The party was quickly in full swing. It seemed like the campers had thought of everything, including a few v.i.p guests. As befitting a “mermaid princess” the theme was The Little Mermaid. Blue and ocean type designs decorated every available surface as well as hung around the pavilion, though the Apollo cabin definitely managed to sneak in some gold wherever they could. Everything sparkled or glistened and Charlotte was thrilled with all of the attention.

The v.i.p.s of course were long-time close friends and members of The Seven. Leo and Calypso were there with their little girl Callie as well as Frank and Hazel with their son Samuel. Will Solace and Nico DiAngelo brought along their twins, Hayden and Ely. Even Coach Hedge managed to come from California with Mellie and Chuck. It was as close to a reunion of the seven as there could ever be though they were missing two. They’d lost Jason Grace barely a year after the Giant War and Piper McLean had distanced herself from demigod life after his death. After everything that happened with Triumvirate Holdings and the emperors, Piper had moved to Oklahoma with her father and made a new life there. She rarely made it out to New York.

“About time you got here, Aquaman!” Leo grinned, shaking hands with Percy. 

“Hey, man. Glad you guys could make it.” Percy greeted.

“We wouldn’t miss la sirenita’s birthday. We’re compadres for life, man.”

Percy raised an eyebrow, “La sire- what?

“The Little Mermaid!” Leo explained while gesturing at the decorations. “I mean, Granddaughter of the Sea God, daughter of Aquaman…you see where I’m going with this?”

The grin returned to Percy’s face. “Dude, don’t call me Aquaman! I guess I started the whole princess mermaid thing with my kid though.”

After some greetings and catching up, everyone sat at the various tables in the pavilion for the big meal. The members of The Seven took up the usually empty table of cabin three. Little Mermaid themed tablecloths decorated the tables instead of the usual white with purple trim. The familiar camp fare of barbeque and refillable goblets were served by the dryads. Last but not least, a three-layer cake and a display of blue cupcakes were set up at the other end of the Poseidon table for dessert.

As was customary, offerings were made to the gods and then everyone settled to eat. Percy had Charlotte on his lap while he and Annabeth took turns feeding the birthday girl in between bites of their own. Conversation flowed freely among friends as the adults tended to the kids and exchanged the latest news of what had been going on in their lives. 

Leo’s mechanic shop in Indianapolis was flourishing. The son of Hephaestus and his partner Lityerses were able to keep quite busy while still helping out around the Waystation. Calypso was happy to have a home with a large family. As far as she was concerned, everyone that came to live at the station was family as much as her own flesh and blood daughter. She felt useful staying with Emmie and Jo who had even become surrogate grandparents for Calista. In a couple of months, Callie would also be a year old. The Valdez’ had put down roots in Indiana and it seemed like they were doing well. 

While Annabeth and Percy decided to return to New York after college, Frank and Hazel remained in New Rome. The couple had passed praetorship to a pair of adept younger members of the twelfth legion fulminata and settled down. Frank, though no longer praetor, trained the legionnaires in archery and was still respected among the senate. Hazel, in turn, taught some classes dealing with magic and the mist. Most of her time was taken up by baby Sammy and a second pregnancy. She had consented to become a surrogate mother for her brother Nico and his husband Will about a year after having Sam.

The Solace-Di Angelo household had become a family of four in the past month when Hazel gave birth to the twins. The couple had moved to New Rome to be near Hazel a few months before the big event. Will had transferred to the University of California San Francisco to continue his medical education. He was well on his way toward specializing as a pediatrician. In the meantime, he was running a small medical office in town with a few other Apollo veterans. The crew of medics was also finishing medical degrees so they rotated their schedules to work around their classes at UCSF. 

Nico on the other hand was more of a stay-at-home dad. He would usually be with Hazel, and they would care for all three babies together. Sammy was almost two and the fraternal twins, Hayden and Elysia, were about a month old now.

Hazel at the moment was in the process of feeding Elysia her bottle while Nico was burping Hayden. Frank had their son munching on some Gerber strawberry apple cereal puffs out of his spill-proof gyro snack bowl. In between bites, Frank also shredded a few pieces of barbeque chicken for the toddler. Thankfully, none of the little ones seemed to be fussy. The four adults seemed like one united front.

The meal progressed into dessert, which involved Charlotte getting all messy with a smash cake which she totally destroyed and got all over her party dress. Once they’d had their fill of sweets and the photography session that had ensued, Percy decided to take her to the stables. He had promised to check on Blackjack and his new brood. Annabeth cleaned their daughter up with wipes and a spare outfit before they made their way through the camp together. 

Percy had one arm around his daughter holding her against his hip and his free hand holding Annabeth’s. She could see Percy’s pure contentment as they took their leisurely walk. This is how he always wanted to be. It didn’t matter where as long as he had his girls at his side. Charlotte had inherited her expressiveness from her father. The toddler was excited, taking everything in with pure wonder and pointing things out.

Once they arrived at the stables Percy drew his daughter’s attention, “Charlie, we’re gonna have to keep our voices down. We don’t want to scare the ponies.”

He put his finger to his lips and Charlotte mimicked him. She giggled when he proceeded to tickle her tummy.

“Okay now we shhh,” he reminded her as he reached for the door.

“Kay, daddy.”

The stables were quiet except the sounds of hooved movement and grazing from the pegasi. As soon as they caught sight of Percy, he was greeted by the animals and a couple of them even bowed in reverence. As the son of the Sea God, he was well-liked by all sorts of equestrian animals. They were his father’s creations after all.

‘Lord Perseus,’ whinnied an elder one, ‘it is good to see you.’

“Aw, there’s no need for all that.” said Percy, “Are they taking good care of you pegasi here at camp?”

‘Indeed, young lord. The other son of Poseidon visits us often as well, though some of the younger pegasi are skittish around the cyclops.’

Percy grinned at the mention of his half brother Tyson. The brothers always tried to make time for each other in the summer. Tyson would visit the camp with Ella for at least a few days whenever Percy was there to train the kids. It was actually a bit strange that he hadn’t made it to his niece's birthday.

“They’ll warm up to him soon enough,” Percy said, patting the older pegasi’s flank.

They moved past a few of the stalls towards the back where Percy was sure Blackjack and his mare would be caring for their young. In the largest stall, a beautiful white pegasus was lying down with a small white and black foal curled up beside her. The little one was primarily white with a few spots of black in varying sizes, especially around its ears and muzzle. It almost looked like it was wearing a mask.

“Baby pony!” Charlotte let out a little gasp in surprise and then covered her mouth as soon as she made the noise, worried that she had been too loud. 

Hey, boss! And mini-boss baby- and Mrs. Boss. How is everyone doing? Blackjack said approaching from the shadows in the next stall. He added the ‘Mrs.’ though he knew Annabeth couldn’t understand.

Charlotte giggled. “Daddy boss!”

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a look. They hadn’t been entirely sure which of her godly grandparents Charlie would take after, but communicating with horses was definitely a Poseidon thing much to Annabeth’s chagrin.

“Hey Blackjack, Mallow.” he greeted the two pegasi, “We’re doing well. Chiron mentioned you just had a foal. I thought I'd come to see you and introduce the kids.”

It is a great honor, Lord. Mallow said as she nudged the sleeping foal. He blinked up at his mother and took in the visitors. He quickly hid his face.

“Ah, none of that lord stuff. It’s just Percy, Annabeth, and this little girl here is Charlotte.”

“Momma, pony play?” Charlotte asked, hiding her own face against her dad.

“Only if it’s okay with their Mommy and Daddy,” Annabeth said.

Sure, mini-boss baby! Blackjack said, nudging her with his muzzle. Come on in.

Annabeth relieved Percy of their one-year-old and he proceeded to unlatch the stall door. Once the stall was open she set Charlie down and knelt to her level. Percy crouched beside them. Mallow nudged her son forward to greet them. The foal seemed a bit shy but now that they weren't quite so tall in their current position he seemed to warm up to the coaxing.

Zorro, go on. Say, hello.

Charlotte held out her hand but didn’t step any closer perhaps as unsure of the young pegasi as he was of them. She waited for him to come to her. He edged closer and nudged her tiny palm. When Charlie smiled he nuzzled her hand.

“Hello, Zowo.” she said softly as she ran her hands through his fuzzy coat.

Hello, Miss. Zorro whinnied, feeling a bit bolder and leaning into her touch.

“Pwetty.” she said in soft reverence, her fingers combing through Zorro’s fluffy coat.

Blackjack nickered as he poked his head over the stall divider, ‘Looks like mini-boss is a chip off the old Sea God block. She’s got your eyes, but much cuter. No offense, of course, boss.’

Percy laughed. “None taken. We weren’t sure if she was even going to have any special abilities, but she seems to understand horses as I do. She likes water about as much as she likes your boy too.”

Charlotte had never shown such an affinity to a specific animal though it seemed she clicked rather quickly with the foal. 

A voice rang out in the stables startling both Zorro and Charlie. They both scrambled to hide behind their parents and even some of the other pegasi whinnied nervously. 

“Brother, are you here?” the voice called out a second time.

“We're back here with Blackjack and Mallow, Tyson,” Percy called back. 

Charlotte peeked from behind her father when she heard her uncle’s name.

“Unca Tyson!” she squealed excitedly and before either parent could pick her up, Charlie ran towards the giant cyclops. 

Tyson stood framed in the doorway, just barely able to duck inside the building. The cyclops had probably grown another foot of two. He saw his little niece racing over so he knelt down to greet her.

“Hello, niece! Happy birthday.” he greeted.

The toddler looked even tinier in his massive embrace. Tyson could just pick her up in the palm of his hands which he did to make his way over to the family. 

“Brother! Annabeth!” Tyson said, “I’m sorry I’m late for the party, but I wanted to finish the gift!”

Annabeth smiled, “It’s alright Tyson. We’re just happy you made it.” 

“Can I give her the present now?” Tyson asked.

“Sure, bro. Let’s see it,” Percy replied.

Tyson set Charlie down and dug into his pocket. He produced a beautiful heart-shaped locket made of imperial gold and abalone shell. Etched on one side of the locket in a beautiful script were the words Family is everything, and on the other side, Together we are strong.

“Oh, Tyson! That is absolutely stunning!” Annabeth said, in awe of the craftsmanship.

Tyson slipped the locket on Charlie though the necklace seemed to be a little too big. There was plenty of time for her to grow into it. Percy took the locket in his palm and read the inscription.

He patted Tyson on the back. “That is amazing work, Tyson.”

“Thank you, brother. Open the locket. One more surprise.” Tyson urged. His ears were tinged pink from all of the compliments but he sounded particularly excited about what was in the locket.

Percy slid his thumb nail through the small catch to open the locket. He was greeted by a picture of his family, Percy himself with his arms around Annabeth who was holding baby Charlotte wrapped in pink blankets. Tyson and Ella were in the picture too though they had to crouch to be in the shot. The photo had been taken maybe a few days after coming home from the hospital with Charlie.

“Baby,” Charlie said looking at the picture.

“Yep. That's you.” Percy replied. He ticked Charlie’s tummy and she started to giggle. “My little mermaid princess.”

“Daddy!” she squealed, still giggling. “No, tickles!”

Charlie continued to squirm as the tickle monster teased her until she finally managed to escape. She hid behind Mallow where Zorro was still hiding from Tyson. The foal became an immediate distraction for the toddler as she began petting him again. 

“So, Tyson, how is everything going at the forges? Are you going to take some time off?” Percy asked while keeping an eye on Charlotte. 

“Yes, I stay here for a few days while Ella visits Camp Jupiter. Dad is coming too.” he paused before adding, “I think.”

“Dad told you that?” Percy inquired. He knew Poseidon wanted to meet his granddaughter. He’d said as much in one of his short and clipped missives, but Percy hadn’t expected the God to remember any important dates such as birthdays. Poseidon had only managed to turn up once in Percy’s lifetime thus far. 

Tyson shrugged. “He said he would be waiting for you by the pier.”

Percy adopted an I guess we’ll see sort of expression before turning his attention back to Annabeth and Charlotte. Mother and daughter seemed to be playing peek-a-boo with Charlie ducking behind Mallow whenever Annabeth peeked. 

“It's getting late,” he noted. The sun had begun to set casting shadows in the stables. “Annabeth should we head out to the pier?” 

Annabeth kept her eyes on Charlie, but nodded her assent, “yes, it’s going to be Charlie’s b-e-d time soon so we better wrap things up.”

She spelled out the word bed hoping not to spark a toddler tantrum while walking over to collect her daughter. Charlie lips were already pursed in a pout. As she eyed her mother, the little gears turned in her mind calculating an escape route. The adults would be faster, and her dad was in the way. No escape. Her eyes widened and Charlie fixed her mother with the most adorable puppy eyes she could muster.

“Stay pweise!” the toddler pleaded.

“We’re gonna see Grandpa. Don’t worry Charlie, we’ll come back to play with Zorro another day.” Percy said placatingly.

The pout was still in full effect as Annabeth picked Charlie up. Thankfully, rather than fuss, she rubbed her eyes and snuggled into her mother’s arms. Charlie was too tuckered out to fight the inevitable.

The family bid farewell to their equine friends and made their way out to the old pier by the beach. There was no sign of the Sea God. For several minutes as they waited, they talked about summer plans watching as the sun completely sank into the horizon. 

Charlie was already beginning to doze off in her mother’s arms. Percy contemplated calling it a day, saying their goodbyes and making the drive home when suddenly Tyson pointed something out in the water.

“Fish ponies! Maybe it's dad.”

Two hippocampi approached the surf but they were alone. Percy walked out to meet them wondering if they needed help. It wouldn’t have been the first time he helped sea creatures. They whinnied and bowed their heads in respect.

Lord Perseus, your father sends his regards and a gift for the young mistress as well.

“I see,” Percy replied giving each hippocampus an affectionate pat. He relieved a package from the one that spoke. It was a small package, neatly wrapped in blue with a small envelope attached. 

Annabeth joined Percy with a now fully awake Charlie. She was fascinated by the hippocampi. As far as she was concerned, they were ponies that could swim. One was currently interested in nuzzling her hand. 

“Grandpa sent a gift,” Percy explained, showing the package to the birthday girl. “Do you want to open it now?”

“Yes!” Charlie said decisively. She made grabby hands for the box and Percy helped her rip into the wrapping paper. He had been careful to remove the card first so that it wouldn’t get caught up in the unwrapping. 

They made quick work of the shiny blue paper, but the non-descript box revealed nothing about its contents. Percy helped her remove an ornate, cylindrical box made of celestial bronze. It was beautifully crafted with images of each of the twelve Olympian Gods symbol of power hewn in blue resin. Front and center was Poseidon’s trident.

Opening the beautifully crafted piece revealed a starry interior depicting the constellations. At the very center, a tiny replica of the muse of dance, the Goddess Terpsichore, danced to the sounds of the sea. 

“Pwetty,” Charlie said, captivated by the little dancer before looking up at her father, “mine?”

Percy opened the card. In a script he recognized as his father’s, it read: Happy Birthday, Sea Princess. He had hoped his father would come to see his granddaughter, but Percy understood they didn’t have a normal family. At the very least Poseidon had managed some kind of acknowledgment.

The hippocampi knickered and gave Percy one last friendly nudge before they both turned back to the surf. They watched together as the impressive creatures swam into deeper waters showing off with a series of flips before disappearing into the sea. In their wake, the symbol of Poseidon lit up the sky. 

It was half-past eleven at night when the parents decided to wind down for bed. Charlotte had been asleep for a few hours, so Annabeth went to check on her daughter while Percy made his rounds through the house to make sure that all the doors and windows were locked up for the night. She approached Charlie’s room but stopped in her tracks when she noticed a faint glow spilling into the hallway. Annabeth knew she hadn’t left any lights on in the toddler’s room and Percy was still downstairs. She almost shouted for him but knew it would be better to catch any invader by surprise. Annabeth however, was unarmed. She continued to approach the room quietly with only her wits about her. 

Annabeth pressed her hand against the door and pushed gently, wincing as it creaked. If they hadn’t heard her before, they certainly had then, so she pushed on through. What, or rather whom, she found standing over her daughter’s crib was definitely not any of the scenarios that went through her mind in those precious few seconds before barging in.

“Mom?” she questioned, having released the breath she’d been holding.

The Goddess finished tucking Charlie in, the pale blue blanket glowing faintly as though interwoven with strands of imperial gold thread. It had been the light source Annabeth noticed in the hallway rather than something more sinister.

Athena brushed a few tendrils of the child's dark hair away and kissed her forehead before turning to face her daughter. The Goddess was wearing a simple sleeveless white gown with none of her usual war accouterments. Her brunette hair was pulled back into a practical ponytail. Annabeth was accustomed to her mother’s steely gaze, but tonight it was tempered by a softness she had never experienced from the gray eyes staring back at her.

“Annabeth,” she started, “I trust you are well?”

“I...yes, mom. Just surprised to see you.” 

“I apologize for startling you,” Athena admitted, “I did not wish to intrude. I can’t stay long.”

Annabeth leaned against the door jamb crossing her arms over her chest. “I just wasn’t expecting you right now. It’s fine, Mom. I just worry about her safety. I thought it could be something else.”

Athena nodded. “It is a parent’s duty to protect our children. I know we Olympions do not set the greatest example, but I am proud of everything you have accomplished. Protect her, for she will be the brightest of her age. She is our future and there is no one better to show her the way.”

The Goddess smiled a rare smile as she gave Charlie a final wistful glance. “I must go. She has my blessing Annabeth.”

As she turned to leave, Annabeth rushed over to hug her. Athena was stunned at first but after a moment she wrapped her arms around her daughter and accepted the display of affection.

“Mom, I know you can’t always be here, but I am grateful for the times you have been.” Annabeth whispered once she stepped back, “thank you.”

Athena did not say anything else in return but the smile was still on her lips as she disappeared to Olympus.

AN: Special Thanks to my amazing friend Sowen for editing!


End file.
